Skip to main content
Story

Submit your film to the UAL Future Fashion Film Festival 2025

Creating a film with a green screen.
  • Written byLondon College of Fashion
  • Published date 18 October 2024
Creating a film with a green screen.
Photo credit-WEN LU | MA Fashion Film and Digital Production | London College of Fashion | UAL

Launching in June 2025 at London College of Fashion (LCF), the UAL Future Fashion Film Festival is a cinematic celebration of fashion through the lens of film. Featuring industry judges, special guests, and a showcase of innovative fashion films at East Bank, the UK’s newest cultural quarter at the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The festival will explore the creative impact of fashion on culture and society with UAL’s social purposes at its core. The shortlisted films will premiere from 2-5 June 2025.

What is fashion film?

Fashion film is more than just aesthetics. From the cinematic promotion of a designer’s collection, to telling stylish stories; the brief is open. Fashion film can be a direct reflection of contemporary culture, it can mediate complex issues in society and innovate on the front line of technology for moving image. However, most importantly at UAL, we aim to empower creative voices by showing how fashion can affect change; whether it’s exploring environmental sustainability, celebrating diversity, or bringing joy and meaning to people’s lives.

This fashion film festival seeks to showcase works that exemplify UAL’s social purposes which are:

  • Power cultural experiences
  • Celebrate differences of all kinds
  • Regenerate our environment
  • Build more equitable prosperity

The UAL Future Fashion Film Festival is proudly funded by University of the Arts London and co-directed by:

  • Vicky Mather, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, MA Fashion, Film, and Digital Production, LCF
  • Lindsay Pentelow, Head of Cultural Programmes, LCF
  • Mirren Kessling, Cultural Producer, LCF

Who can apply and what are the categories?

This festival is open to all UAL students, alumni, and staff.

Our esteemed panel of judges will select films that embody creativity, innovation, and purpose. The categories and judges for each award are:

Best Fashion Film

  • Rhea Thierstein, Creative Director and Artist
  • Katie Metcalfe, Commissioning Director at NOWNESS
  • Liv Lockwood, Choreographer, Director, and Movement Director
  • Liam Gleeson, Founder, and Creative Director at Hidden Agency

Best Fashion Animation

  • Tom CJ Brown, Artist and Filmmaker
  • Jamie Dodds, Digital Commissioner for Entertainment at BBC
  • Frederik Heyman, Artist

Best Fashion Documentary

  • D.Wiafe, Artist, Educator and Course Leader of BA (Hons) Photography and Creative Industries at LCC
  • Natalie Christian, Senior Editorial Policy Adviser at BBC
  • Vanessa Whyte, Cinematographer and Co-Founder of Illumantarix
  • Cal Turner, Commissioning Editor for Sewing Bee, BBC

Best Fashion Performance

  • Niquelle La Touche, Artist-Educator, Head of Academy Breakin’ Convention at Sadler’s Wells East
  • Gavin Humphries, Managing Director at NOWNESS
  • Ruby Kuraishe, BBC Commissioner for Drag Race
  • Rob Jones, Artistic Director at Sadler’s Wells

Best Fashion and Digital Innovation

  • Kerry Murphy, Co-founder, CEO at The Fabricant
  • Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency, LCF
  • Omar Karim, AI Creative Director, Film Director, Image Maker

Best Activism in a Fashion Context

  • Brendan Cormier, Chief Curator at V&A East
  • Sam Wilkinson, Head of Public Art at UCL East
  • Sara Arnold, Founder of Fashion Act Now

Overall Winner

  • Professor Andrew Teverson, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Head of LCF, and Professor of Cultural History and Critical Thinking

Awards and Prizes

  • Screening of all shortlisted works at LCF in our state-of-the-art Lecture Theatre at East Bank, London’s new cultural quarter
  • 'NOWNESS Picks' a curated selection of shortlisted works will be screened on the global video channel NOWNESS
  • Special events and mixers for shortlisted filmmakers
  • Nightly award ceremonies for each shortlist screening
  • Awards for each category including production and equipment
  • Film and cinema memberships
  • Award for best fashion film across all categories

How to submit your film

Max. length 12 minutes, please submit an excerpt if the final length is longer.

Submit your film for free at filmfreeway.com/UALFashionFilmFestival2025

Submission Information

Please read the submission rules carefully on FilmFreeway before submitting your work.

Key Dates

  • Call for Entries: 18 October 2024 – 24 January 2025
  • Shortlist announced: April 2025
  • Awards and Festival: 3 – 5 June 2025
  • Winners announced: 5 June 2025

Get in touch

If you have any queries relating to the UAL Future Fashion Film Festival please contact fashionfilmfest@fashion.arts.ac.uk